There's a light at the end of this tunnel

We just recently remodeled our master bathroom. A's sister, who runs a Handy-Jill business in Denver area, had agreed to do the work. We had a half bath in place, but no shower, or tub, for the master. Just outside that half bath, we had a small storage area near the back door. We walled that off, and installed a double shower. We wanted to have a light in the shower, and planned to power it up with the old light switch from that side of the bathroom. The only problem came when we switched it on. The light in the shower came on, but not the old bathroom ceiling lights. We could not figure it out. In the middle of all of this, we went to a wedding in SL. A's older brother was there, and he is a contractor. He agreed to stop in here on the way back to where they live and help us out. Two hours after he got here, we finally had the power all straightened out. Thank goodness for great relatives who are willing to help. We hope to soon have a nice, working, 3/4 bath!

Take Care. Stay clean. :o) Stick.

How Harry met Sally (the names have been changed to protect the innocent)

Several people have been writing in their blogs about how they and their spouses met. To do that here, I have to give some background.

I am the brother in my family who everyone thought would end up the old, unmarried brother, who rambled around being strange and unmarried well into his forties. I was in my late 20’s when I met my wife. Before I met her, she had already met my younger sister, my mother, my Aunts, and my grandmother. Most of them (especially my mother and sister) thought they should introduce her to me, but didn’t for fear I would never go out with someone they had recommended (Not true however). My sister had lived in the same area as my wife-to-be, and had been friends with her. While visiting my sister, I met all of her roommates, who also knew my wife. When I finally moved back to the area, I found and apartment that happened to be near where those old roommates lived, and my wife was now rooming with them. One of those roommates knew that I had a car, and came over to ask if she and her roommate (my wife) could get a ride to a campus activity. My roommate and I decided that we were going anyway, so why not give them a ride. This is where I first met my wife (Lone Hawk, she was wearing a blue and black, print sweater dress). After this event, this apartment full of girls, who didn’t have a TV in their apartment, would come to our place to watch different shows, in particular, MASH. After a semester of them hanging around, my wife went home for Christmas, along with many of the other students. I was working, so didn’t go anywhere. Over the Christmas break, I began to realize that I really missed having my wife around. By the time she came back, I had decided to ask her out on a date, and had pretty much decided to ask her to marry me. We went on one date, and then two weeks later, I asked her to marry me. We were married 3 months later, and have now been together almost 22 years.

Fine`, Compleat, Todo, Done!

After almost 10 months of writing, I have finished my book. Now my wife and I will proofread and edit before trying to find someone to publish it. I have already begun outlining book two, so I hope someone picks this one up, and wants the next one too!

Wish me luck, and have a great day! Stick

Mechanical Genius?

I spent last winter without a heater. For some reason my fan quit. Nothing I did would make it work. So, I finally broke down and bought a repair manual for my truck. I went out, checked all the fuses, all the relays, eevrything I could think of--and it still didn't work. In disgust, I hit the fan motor with my pliers. It works now.

Continuing with my new found streak of mechanical know-how, my oldest daughter J called us from Green River last night. Her car had broken down. When we arrived, we found a large hole in her radiator hose. All of the part stores in town were closed, so using all of my mechanical abilities, I got out my roll of duct tape, and wrapped about five layers around the hole. It held until she got home where we could replace the broken hose.

Maybe I'll open a shop...maybe not.

Take care. Stick.

Lazy Daze

Today and tomorrow are a holidays for my school district in Wyoming. It is not nationally recognized, but a holiday none the less. This is Fall Break, but in Wyoming, it is more commonly called, Deer Hunters Holiday. Most of my students will hunt, or have a parent hunt, and all will know someone who hunts. I am going to go this year as well.

Since I have the day off, I should get to sleep in, right? Not a chance. First of all, with our five school age kids to get out of the house, it gets very noisy around here very early. Secondly, (and most importantly) my brain says, "Its time to get up. Get out of bed NOW!"

So naturally, I got up, but its vacation, so I can lay around and do nothing all day--right? Fat chance. I have chores that have to be done while I'm off, because there is no time to do them otherwise. The garage needs cleaning so we can get a vehicle in there for the winter (this is almost done, but needs finishing). We have tomatoes that need bottling. I don't know why, but this has fallen to me this year. I need to do some laundry (yes, it is my turn, my wife has done more than her share lately).

I'm sure I'll find more, but that is enough to start with. Maybe if I work hard enough today, I can sleep in tomorrow. Yeah, right.

Take care. Stick.

The Finish Line

I just finished writing my 27th chapter for my book. I now have three left to wrap everything up, introduce my last plot twist, and set the scene for book number two--the sequel. Then comes the hard part--getting it published. Twist Tales, my brother, finished his book a while ago, and has been struggling to get it published since. Idon't know if mine will ever make it, but I felt like I needed to write it. They say that everyone has a book in them waiting to get out, but what they don't tell you is that you need a crowbar to get it out, and a bigger one to get it published. I hope to have it done before Christmas. Now you know what to get me--a big crowbar. I guess we'll see.

Take care. Start that book now. Stick.

Grandpa WHO!?

My daughter S came home from school and said, "I'm having a baby this weekend. His name is Courtin Ray."

She is taking a parenting class required for all teenage girls and boys here in our school district. The "baby" is an animatronic doll that has batteries and a timer. It wants to be fed at least every three hours for 15 minutes, then burped for 15 minutes, and has to have its diaper changed regularly. It cries when it is hungry, cries differently when it is tired, has another cry for a diaper change. If you drop it, it has sensors that record the blow, and it can die

As a teacher, I can appreciate what they want these girls to learn, but I HATE THESE DOLLS! The girls bring them into my class, and all work stops. The boys want the girls to fail, so are constantly trying to bang up the doll. The girls all want to play with it, hold it, whatever, and then, just as you are in the middle of teaching some concept, the thing starts crying and disrupts things all over again. Want can't they echo real life, and make the girls pay for a day care during school hours. How much more real can it get? (Just kidding)

She turns hers back in tomorrow at noon, then someone else gets it. Goodbye, and Good riddance. You can visit with the rest of the kids at Christmas.

Take care. Stick.